Firefly
by Kinsly
Summary: Hotaru is a teenager who has a mysterious past and a bleak future. Shukaku destroyed everything she had ever known. Then Hotaru meets a strange Ninja, Karen, who helps her go to the Leaf village for medical support. ShukakuxOC
1. Chapter 1

Author's note:

Disclaimer: I do not own anything to do with Naruto

Information: Before you read this, expecting some evil demon's personality to be tamed by a hot-headed girl, I want to tell you that this is nothing like you think it will be. I, personally, have never thought of Shukaku as a mass of chakra/blood lust. I'm writing this story to prepare me for many more and to bring some closure to myself. I believe that the demons behaved like the Eight tails does.

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><p>That morning when Shukaku woke up, his head was pounding. Everything around him was making noise. The birds were screeching, the water was yelling as it hit the rocks, and even the villagers were mocking him with their creaking carts. It had to end. He would kill them.<p>

Shukaku was in his human form, he normally used to scout the village out before he destroyed them. Sometimes he wondered why he had the urge to destroy the villages, but looking back on the last few hundred years he remembered the endless hatred the villagers had for him. Before he started destroying their villages, the villagers weren't afraid of him. They drove Shukaku to his breaking point through their unjustified resentment towards him, so he gave them a reason to hate him.

Shukaku started by destroying the village he lived in. The one that had turned his childhood into a living nightmare. His mother and father were killed by the Samurai and Anthro that watched them. He remembered how he begged them to take his life, how he couldn't live without someone's understanding. He had been pathetic.

Shukaku put on his khaki brown pants, white shirt, and white scarf around his neck before putting his kunai pouch on. His clothes were comfortable and homemade. It matched how some of the desert people dressed, which was his cover story if any ninja decided to ask stupid questions.

On his way to the village he was planning to destroy, he saw a young Anthro girl. She had long white hair with matching eyes and ears. She looked like a lower class wolf breed, judging from her long white tail that seemed to curve down in the middle. She wore a bright smile, unusual for a species that was beginning to take on the hatred the humans had for demons.

"Do you need something?" The girl looked over towards him with a face that showed curiosity.

"No" Shukaku grunted as he ran his hand through his long sandy blonde hair and walked away.

As he walked away from the girl, he felt her eyes glued to his back. It was an uncomfortable feeling, knowing that someone is judging you. He stopped walking and turned around to face the girl. He would not have someone hate him while he was in his human form. Even if it meant killing her on the spot.

"Um" The girl looked around nervously as Shukaku approached her, "Hello?"

"Why do you hate me?" Shukaku growled, getting closer to her

"W-what?" The girl tried to look him in the eyes, but failed

"You were judging me," Shukaku rose to his full height, "I felt it"

"I wasn't" The girl held her hands up

"You were staring at me" Shukaku stated

"I... I thought your tattoos were cool" The girl blushed

"They aren't tattoos" Shukaku growled

"Oh?" The girl questioned

"Oh" Shukaku mocked in a distasteful tone

Shukaku noticed the bag the girl was holding. It was filled with sweet smelling foods that showed slightly through the top. His mouth watered, the last time he ate was the flesh of some nasty ninja. He enjoyed the blood, but when it came down to the small part of his humanity, he preferred normal foods.

"Would you like to share?" The girl's eyes followed Shukaku's to the bag

"No" Shukaku turned away from the girl

"Okay, I don't have a towel to sit on though" Shukaku turned around to glare at the girl, but she was too busy looking around her to notice

"I would rather die than eat with something as disgusting as you" Shukaku spat

"You're dirtier than I am" the girl looked down at herself, then to Shukaku

"Anthro, need I say more?" Shukaku tried to hurt her feelings

The girl glared at Shukaku with every ounce of hate she could muster. Shukaku knew that he was being a hypocrite, but her people killed his mother and father, they were a tainted race in his mind. She has the blood of the Anthro race coursing through her veins regardless of her humanly features.

"I'm only half Anthro, if it means anything to you" The girl turned to walk away

"That's not possible" Shukaku stated

The girl didn't bother to respond. Shukaku could tell that she was crying as she walked away from him. He felt two very strong feelings, one of empathy and one of revenge. He didn't know if he should comfort the girl, or kill her for the self pity she was wallowing in. She had no right to feel that way after her people did the same to him.

Taking some of his sand, he tripped the girl. It was an almost unconscious reaction to a simple thought. He watched the girl sit up and try to gather some of the food that spilled out of her bag. She was still crying, her movements were shaky.

"Let me help" Shukaku's humanity had won

The girl looked up at Shukaku with a pained glance. Shukaku assumed she was just as confused as he was about his actions. He avoided eye contact as he helped her pick up her things.

"I'm sorry" Shukaku placed the food he gathered into the bag

"What's your name?" The girl asked, looking up to meet his eyes

"Shu-" Shukaku paused, no one had cared long enough to ask him what his name was before

"It's nice to meet you Shu" The girl gave a light smile, but her eyes were still hurt

"Uh, what's your name?" Shukaku ran his hand through his hair

_That was close_, he thought to himself

"Hotaru" The girl crossed her legs

"Hotaru..." He tested the name in his mouth

"I think so... Maybe I forgot again" Hotaru teased

Shukaku gave her a confused look before he realized that she was just teasing him. He wasn't used to this kind of attention, he thought that no one would ever find him worthy of a conversation, especially an Anthro. Anthros always regarded themselves as the link between the human and animal world. Back when Shukaku was a child he always saw them in the nicest houses in the nicest neighborhoods. Now that the demon days were dying out, humans had started to focus their hate on the Anthro.

"I forget who I am too, sometimes" Shukaku voiced his thoughts

"Well, that's not good" Hotaru laughed, "We can forget together"

"No thanks" Shukaku ran his hand through his hair again

"Well, Shu-san" Hotaru paused, "I think that it's time for lunch, join me if you're not too busy"

"No" Shukaku got up and walked away

_At least I made her feel better_, he mentally sighed

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><p>A few hours later he saw the girl again, this time next to a taller woman with gray hair and dull gray eyes. The woman she was next to had to be her grandmother, for she was too old to be her mother or sister. They had a similar facial structure, a small round face with big eyes.<p>

"Excuse us" The elderly woman said as she pulled Hotaru through the market place

"Wait..." Shukaku reached out to grab Hotaru and ask her if the woman she was with was a human, but clenched his fist and withdrew it when he realized that he would kill them in a day or two anyway.

"Hey, you!" A ninja shouted

Everyone in the marketplace turned to the ninja who shouted. The town was used to having ninja come and protect them, many small villages were disputed territory due to the recent wars for power. The Leaf village, the primary owner of this piece of land, was made by the first and second Hokages around thirty years ago. The ninja were only trying to protect the land from other ninja.

"Me?" Shukaku asked without turning around, instead he found his eyes wandering to Hotaru who looked scared and defenseless.

"You look like your some punk from the Sand village" The ninja said in a cocky tone, "Where's your forehead protecter?"

"I'm a rogue" Shukaku responded quietly.

"A what?" The ninja almost screamed, bringing Shukaku's forgotten headache back.

Shukaku turned around and ran towards the cocky ninja. He grabbed him by the throat and lifted him up above his own face. Making a low growling sound, Shukaku stared into the terrified eyes he had seen his whole life and threw the ninja boy onto the ground and started to walk away. The boy would get his soon.

"Come back here!" The cocky ninja boy managed to choke out

"Why?" Shukaku said in a melodic voice, "At least tell me a name before I get the pleasure of killing you"

"My name is Sarutobi Asuma" Asuma said while a few other ninja with the same cloth around their hips showed up, "And we're going to force you to leave this town"

"So be it, Sarutobi" Shukaku looked down to the ground before finishing his statement, "You will die today!"

As Shukaku was grinding sand under the surface of the earth to kill the group of teenage ninja, Hotaru ran to him and put her arms around him. She was crying and gripping his shirt tightly. He looked down at her, confused. He barely knew her and she was touching him when he was about to kill the ninja who were trying to protect her.

"Oh, Onii-san!" Hotaru cried, "These people don't want to play with you, you got lucky that they have put up with you this long, please, Nee-san, let's go home now"

Some of the people in the marketplace began to whisper things about not knowing Hotaru had a brother, but thought better of saying anything while the ninja were watching them. Shukaku didn't understand why the girl was trying to protect him, making him look like a fool in the process too. She was being ridiculous.

"Get off of me, Hotaru" Shukaku shoved her to the ground and glared at her.

"Shu-san..." Hotaru eyes looked sad, but turned to anger, "You're being an idiot"

"You don't know me!" Shukaku yelled back.

"You don't even know yourself!" Hotaru snarled

"I know that I could kill every last one of these fools" Shukaku pointed towards the ninja.

Shukaku thought about the argument he was having. Why should he care what Hotaru thinks? She's already dead. No one listens to a dead person, because they're dead, their opinions don't matter anymore.

"Please, Sarutobi-sama, my son's father was killed by ninja" Her voice sang and lifted every ear towards it, "He's having a hard time coping"

"We understand" Asuma bowed towards Hotaru's mother, "Please keep him under control"

As Asuma and his companions walked away, Shukaku felt useless. If people who are already dead are fighting his battles for him, then he would be sure that their death came sooner. All he could see was red, he hated Hotaru, he hated her mother, and most of all, he hated Asuma. He would kill Asuma for is ignorance.

"Shu-san, it's time to come home" Hotaru said reluctantly

"I have no home with you!" Shukaku spat and walked towards his small cave by the village.

_They'll die tonight_, Shukaku laughed


	2. Chapter 2

A/N:

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto or any of the characters in it.

This is my first story... So don't be too disappointed

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><p>She felt her skin burning, everything around her was made of fire. She struggled against what was holding her, but couldn't get out. Screams filled the night air, the scent of smoke and death was everywhere. Nothing made sense, there was no time to think, she needed to get out from whatever bound her to the floor. Her eyes shot open, burning, melting with the feeling of smoke invading them, she had to close them almost immediately. the smoke and fire had helped countless things find their way into her eyes. She could feel dirt and ash behind her eyelid.<p>

She wiped her eyes with her dirty hands, succeeding in getting more dirt into her eyes and pushing more behind them. Fear consumed her entire being. If she wasn't able to see what was going on around her, she had no way to react to it. If someone mistook her for the demon, she would die. Be killed without the slightest idea it was going to happen. She had to get out of her crumbled house.

Seconds later she heard the Village's Samurai yelling orders to help the people trapped in buildings, while the ninja from the Land of Fire took orders to lure the demon away. The word _demon_ struck her as something fictional, not real, unable to touch her, to hurt her in a physical way. Thinking back she remembered her mother talking in the market place a few days ago talking about a demon, but it didn't seem to move her back then, as the Samurai said it now.

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><p>"<em>Did you hear what happened to the island villages?" Her mother asked the shopkeeper with a frown painted on her face.<em>

"_Yes, I also heard that the demon leaves every Anthro he sees alive," The shopkeeper looked distastefully at her as she hid behind her mother._

"_Oh, Karra, you don't have to be so distasteful" Her mother gave an awkward laugh to try and lighten the mood._

"_I'm moving out of town..." the shopkeeper continued, "You should think about it too"_

"_I don't think we'll be attacked" Her mother gave a reassuring smile, "I was just worried about those who have been"_

"_I wouldn't be so sure" The shopkeeper was beginning to get worked up, "Would you give you life so easily to a demon?"_

"_That's quite enough" Her mother grabbed her arm and started to pull her away from the ranting shopkeeper, "Let's go Hotaru"_

"_Maybe you can hide behind that pet of yours!" The shopkeeper yelled, "Maybe then she would be useful"_

"_Don't listen to her Hotaru, you're useful" Hotaru's mother smiled brightly down at her._

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><p>Hotaru heard a high pitched laughing noise coming from her right. Unable to open her eyes, she used her arms to block her face, hoping that whatever made the sickening noise would leave her alone until she could see. The voice came closer, screaming about all of the ways it would kill the Ninja that were fighting to keep the villagers alive, how it would take their bodies in its sand and skin them alive.<p>

Fighting against the burning object that pinned her to the floor, she managed to push it up long enough to slip her crippled legs out from under it. The object felt like a burning log from the top of their house. When Hotaru and her mother first moved into the village she saw the builders put the support beams on the building, that must have been what fell on top of her while she was sleeping.

Trying to rub feeling into her badly burnt legs, Hotaru realized that her mother might have already been killed by the demon. The thick feeling denial flooded her body, nothing could ever happen to her mother, even when her father left her for another woman, her mother still kept the same optimistic smile on her face that helped Hotaru feel like everyday would get better and that she shouldn't worry about anything because her mother would take care of it.

Hotaru tried to force her way to where she knew her mother's room to be. Pulling herself along the floor boards, the burning ashes stung at her wounds and made the journey from her room, across the hall, and to her mother's room much more difficult than it should have been.

"Mother!" Hotaru called out when she reached her mother's doorway.

"H...Hotaru..." A weak voice called.

"Mother, where are you?" Hotaru's eyes began to wash out with freshly made tears.

"Don't come, Hotaru" Her mother's voice faded at her daughter's name.

"Mother! Are you okay?" Hotaru tried opening her eyes, but they were still sealed shut.

Without a response from her mother, Hotaru began pulling herself to where she remembered her mother's bed to be. She couldn't fathom the idea of her mother dying, next to her. She couldn't even see the look on her mother's face, the light fade from her pained eyes.

"Mother!" Hotaru called again.

Every pull she made sent more pain throughout her body. She could feel the wounds on her legs begin to rip open on the splintering floor. Hotaru's vision was beginning to blur, nothing was making sense anymore. The last thing she could remember doing was going to sleep, but then why did she hurt so badly?

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><p>When she woke up everything was black. She could feel the warmth of the sun beating down on her body, but was unable to open her eyes. Hotaru tried to sit up, but hands were on her immediately.<p>

"Stay" A voice commanded.

She heard a humming noise that made her want to sleep, made her feel numb wherever it went. _It must be a medic,_ she thought to herself as she allowed her strained body to relax itself.

"Who are you?" The voice asked again, it sounded like a woman.

"Ho-Hotaru" She choked, noticing how parched her throat felt.

"Where are the other Anthro's?" The woman asked in a kinder voice, but seriousness still overwhelmed her being.

"Ther-" Hotaru began to cough violently.

The woman grabbed something next to her and began rummaging through it, making obvious noises and bumping Hotaru occasionally. The woman pulled out a water canteen and handed it to Hotaru, who clumsily fumbled with the cap. Taking the canteen from Hotaru, the woman began to place the opening towards Hotaru's mouth, allowing her to drink and clear her throat.

The water was the best thing Hotaru could remember drinking. It felt cold against her burning mouth and throat. As the water went down her throat, it helped to take away the poisonous taste of smoke that littered everything around her.

"Better?" The woman took the canteen away, allowing Hotaru to catch her breath.

"Yeah.." Thinking back on the night, Hotaru remembered that her mother could still be waiting in her room for her to save her.

"Stop!" The woman held Hotaru down when she began to stand.

"My mother!" Hotaru said in an exhausted voice as she pushed against the woman's arms.

"She is dead, or gone" The woman said bluntly.

"She isn't, she was waiting for me to save her in her room" Hotaru tried again to push the woman's arms away.

"Where are the other Anthro?" The woman asked again with an impatient voice.

"I'm the only one in the village" Hotaru rubbed at her eyes, trying to see where her mother might be.

"So she wasn't your real mother?" The woman began rustling in her bag again.

"Where is my mother?" Hotaru pleaded.

"Shhh, darling, your mother is dead" The woman attempted a comforting voice, but the blunt statement took away from the fake warmth in her voice.

The woman pulled on what was left of Hotaru's hair, forcing her face to look at the sky. As Hotaru tried to fight the woman's grasp, she felt something thicker than water enter through the opening by her tear duct. The slow moving liquid reminded Hotaru of some sort of sap.

"Hold still" The woman yanked violently at Hotaru's hair.

"Don-" Hotaru tried to yell, but the liquid arrested her attention.

Once the liquid was in her eye, it smoothed out and coated her entire eye. Hotaru's left eye followed shortly after. The feeling of smoke that had blinded her before was gone, leaving the gel like substance to overwhelm her. The feeling didn't last as long as she would have liked, the gel had brought everything to the crevices' of her eyes.

"Well?" The woman asked as Hotaru opened her eyes

The woman's face was pale and she had bright blue eyes. Hotaru looked at what the woman's dress next. She had a heavy traveler's cape on that covered most of her face, as well as her entire body. The only skin the woman showed through her clothing, would be her eyes. Her mouth was covered in a black scarf wrapped around her head to cover her hair.

"Your eyes are beautiful" Hotaru said amazed

"Yours are plain" The woman gave a small chuckle while she, yet again, looked into her bag, "Never really though of white as much of a color"

"My mother said they were silver" Hotaru looked down, then up to see if she could spot her mother.

"How many times do i have to repeat myself?" The woman smacked Hotaru on the side of the head, "Hold still"

"Sorry" Hotaru mumbled.

Hotaru looked onto the village, seeing destruction, death, loss. Everything she had come to know in the village was flattened and covered in bodies and sand. No rubble from building was anywhere to be found, only mutilated bodies that were torn to pieces, or skinned. One thing each of the bodies had in common though, was the terror stricken expression their eyes held in death.

"The name is Karen" The woman stated, looking directly into Hotaru's eyes with empathy.

"Nice to meet you" Hotaru tried to perform a small bow, but was glared at the moment she started to move.

"How old are you?" Karen asked sarcastically.

"Seventeen" Hotaru said obediently.

"Sometimes I forget how well Anthro age" Karen gave a heavy sigh as she poured more of the magical medicine onto Hotaru's legs.

"How would you know?" Hotaru said as bitterly as she could

"Because I worked with one" Karen said solemnly, "Before I killed her"

Biting her lip, Hotaru looked down to the ground, not wanting to make eye contact with the only other Anthro she had ever seen before. She knew that she should be more polite, but she just didn't feel like it mattered anymore. Everything she knew was gone. Why should she care anymore?

"We should probably go to Konoah" Karen suggested

"We?" Hotaru asked cynically

"You barely have any hair left on your ears and tail" Karen judged.

Hotaru looked down and her bruised body. She had been so busy looking around her at the dead bodies, that she didn't notice her own injuries. Her legs were the worst, they had several cuts down them that were deep and jagged. Some of the cuts where already brought together, probably because of Karen's medic ablilities.

"Are you a medic?" Hotaru questioned idiotically

"Nope" Karen stated in a matter-of-factly voice

"Oh..." Hotaru uttered in a confused voice

"I was kidding" Karen looked back to Hotaru's legs

"Oh?" Hotaru gave Karen a perplexed look.

"Here, take this" Karen reached in her bag and pulled out an old cape.

"Thanks?" Hotaru barely responded

Hotaru felt dazed. So much was happening to her in such a short amount of time. Only yesterday her mother made her breakfast and gave her the bright smile that always made Hotaru feel better. Hours ago Hotaru bid her mother goodnight, telling her that she would see her in the morning.

"Put that coat on and try to walk" Karen commanded in her less than empathetic tone.

Hotaru reached for the old coat and strapped it on. It was baggy and the sleeves kept Hotaru's progress with the numerous straps and buttons slow. Karen was tapping her foot impatiently, but didn't stop to argue, or yell at Hotaru.

"Done" Karen announced half way through.

"But-" Hotaru objected

"It looks sexy without them all buttoned" Karen winked and pulled Hotaru to her feet.

"I don't think I can walk" Hotaru confessed to Karen while looking down.

In one nimble movement, Karen picked Hotaru up and put her on her back. Hotaru, who had no idea that Karen was able to do something like that, or even manage to carry something as heavy as herself, was appalled at the suddenness of Karen's actions.

"Now, We're off!" Karen grunted as she took off.


End file.
